Robert College Records, 1858-1986 MS# 1445
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Robert College Records, 1858-1986 MS# 1445 ©2007 Columbia University Library This document is converted from a legacy finding aid created before 2007. SUMMARY INFORMATION Creator Robert College Title and dates Robert College Records, 1858-1986 Abstract These records contain information related to the formation of Robert College (Bebek, Turkey). They document the founders' attempts to define the mission of a Christian college within the Ottoman Empire, their efforts to obtain permission to purchase land, and their efforts to gain necessary permits to build upon the site. Size 55 linear feet (108 document boxes, volumes, and oversize material) Call number MS#1445 Location Columbia University Butler Library, 6th Floor Rare Book and Manuscript Library 535 West 114th Street Robert College Records New York, NY 10027 Language(s) of material English, Turkish, Bulgarian. History of Robert College Robert College, the first American- sponsored college founded outside the United States, opened its doors in Bebek, Turkey, in 1863 with four students. The following year the American trustees obtained papers of incorporation in the State of New York allowing the institution to raise funds in support of the experiment. The College was an outgrowth of American missionary efforts within the Ottoman Empire, but had no formal connection with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Under the leadership of the Reverend Cyrus Hamlin, a Congregational minister, who had spent many years in Turkey, and with the support of Christopher R. Robert, a prosperous New York merchant, the college gradually became recognized as an important institution for educating the Christian minorities within the Ottoman Empire. Cyrus Hamlin's desire to establish a permanent campus increasingly diverted his energies from administrative duties. After protracted negotiations and considerable resistance from the Turkish authorities, he secured a site above the fortress of Rumeli Hisar overlooking the Bosphorus and began personally to oversee construction of the new building. In the process he became increasingly alienated from his colleagues and as a consequence the trustees shifted responsibility for administering the college to George Washburn, a long time resident of Turkey who had served as I treasurer for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions before joining the Robert College faculty. In 1871 the College moved to its new campus and while the number of students grew so did the tension between Hamlin and the faculty. In 1877 the trustees officially named Washburn president, though in fact he had been acting as such for some years. During his long tenure, Washburn gradually assembled a faculty of distinguished scholars who firmly established the College's academic reputation. These professors were augmented by tutors from the United States and by local academics. With the death of Christopher Robert in 1878, the College lost one of its leaders and its chief benefactor. However, his generous bequest laid the basis for an endowment. That same year the College's first catalog was published showing that since 1863, 912 students of many nationalities had attended and 76 had graduated. The number of students grew markedly during the l880s but in the process the physical plant and equipment gradually became outmoded and faculty morale declined. In the United States a new group of trustees was recruited, and men such as John S. Kennedy, Cleveland H. Dodge and William Sloane inspired an ambitious building program that both expanded and revitalized the College. In 1903, Dr. Caleb F. Gates succeeded George Washburn as president. During his twenty-nine year administration the student body underwent a dramatic transformation as the Young Turk movement led to an unprecedented demand for education along western lines. Concurrently, government relaxation of barriers against attending foreign schools encouraged the enrollment of Turkish youngsters in existing institutions such as Robert College. Page 2 of 112 Robert College Records In 1912 the School of Engineering was established, a major step in harmony with the needs of a Turkey determined to modernize itself and provide technical education to its young generation. With the coming of World War I, Robert College faced a host of pressures and experienced severe shortages of supplies. Nevertheless, the college continued to fulfill its educational mission. Even after the United States entered the war and severed diplomatic relations with Turkey, Robert College was never obliged to close its doors. A significant indication of the relationship I between the two countries is the fact that there was no declaration of hostilities-- despite the fact that Turkey was allied with the Central Powers. At the end of the war the rising spirit of Turkish nationalism left the fate of an American institution precarious. However, by the 1920s Robert College--which had been in existence for over half a century-- had won the respect of Turkish leaders who recognized the crucial role of education to the process of modernization. Moreover, the United States government had never over the years become associated in the public's mind with efforts to dismember the Ottoman Empire. Finally, President Woodrow Wilson's emphasis on self-determination of nations was in accord with Turkish desires for independence in the wake of World War I. During the 1920s a militantly nationalist Turkish government sought to exercise increased control over all schools through its Ministry of Education. While this thrust was not in accord with American traditions of institutional autonomy, both the government and then college maintained a degree of flexibility over the years that made it possible for generations of Turkish students to become educated in the Western liberal tradition and thereby contribute to the development of modern Turkey. This can be attributed, in some measure, to a respect for the secular traditions of the West on the part of Kemal Ataturk. The retirement of President Caleb Gates in 1932 closed a twenty-nine year chapter in the history of the College. By that time the impact of the worldwide economic depression had severely strained the institution's finances. The trustees appointed Dr. Paul Monroe of Teachers College, Columbia University, to consolidate the college in the face of its reduced income. One of his first moves was the merger of Robert College with the American College for Girls (ACG) under a single president, though the two institutions continued for many years to maintain their separate Boards of Trustees and their separate endowments. The American College for Girls was an outgrowth of an educational experiment called The Home School founded in 1871 in Istanbul by the Woman's Board of Missions and a group of women educators from Boston. In 1890 under the leadership of May Mills Patrick, and with the support of Sarah L. Bowker, Caroline Borden and other Boston women, the school was granted an act of incorporation as an educational institution by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Home School had been gradually adding post-high school course work over the years and, in June 1891, conferred Bachelor of Arts degrees on its first seven graduates. As in the case of Robert College, ACG enrolled the Christian minorities within the Ottoman Empire. The first Turkish women attended surreptitiously, but more openly and in increasing numbers following the Young Turk uprising of 1908. The process of recruiting faculty members was a difficult one and some instructors pursued graduate work while they taught. In December 1905 a disastrous fire destroyed Barton Hall, the main instructional building, but fortunately no lives were lost. In the next few years Dr. Patrick increased her efforts to expand the college's facilities. By 1914 property had been purchased at Arnavutköy and four new buildings constructed. A fifth, Bingham Hall, was added in 1924. In the Page 3 of 112 Robert College Records meantime the college had secured a second charter from the Massachusetts legislature in 1908 allowing it to develop independently from the restrictions of the Woman's Board of Missions. The dedication of the new campus was followed in the same year by the outbreak of World War I. Remarkably, the College survived the privations of wartime Istanbul and the Turkish government permitted it to function even after the U.S. declared war on Turkey's allies, the Central Powers. Although some students represented nationalities at war with each other they continued to pursue their education side-by-side during the four years of the conflict. One of Dr. Patrick's strongest convictions was that medical education be available to women. In 1920, a medical department was opened at ACG together with the founding of The American Hospital (subsequently known as the Admiral Bristol Hospital). By 1924, however, the trustees of the College concluded that they could not continue to fund the medical department. Shortly afterward the Turkish government decided to limit such professional training to its own educational institutions. In 1924 Dr. Patrick retired and was succeeded by Kathryn Newell Adams, who had headed the English Department since 1920. She served until 1931. Prior to the appointment of Paul Monroe in 1932 as the president of both Robert College and the Amerlcan College for Girls, the two institutions had begun sharing instructors for certain elective classes. The stringencies imposed by the depression led to further consolidation. When ill health compelled the retirement of Dr. Monroe in 1935, he was succeeded as head of the two institutions by Dr. Walter Livingston Wright, Jr., an Ottoman scholar whose extensive knowledge of the Near East served the colleges well during an era of profound change in Turkey. President Wright faced the continuous task of maintaining academic standards in the face of financial stringency. The curriculum underwent revision as the College strove to adapt to the needs of a nation undergoing modernization. As Europe's crises of the late 1930s brought war in 1939, it became increasingly difficult to attract qualified teachers.